^4? 
b33 




Gass E 4 f y . 

B001JL 7 33 



TI-IE o:pin"io,t^8 



OF 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 

UPON 

SLAVERY AID ITS ISSUES: ^^l^, 

INDICATED BY HIS- 

SPEECHES, LETIERS, MESSAGES, AND PEOCLAMATIONS, 



The antamnkr/i between Slavery and Freedom, natural. The poHcif of the 
Slavcocracy foreshadovsed, " 

From Speech at Springfield, III., June 17, 185S- 

We are now far into tlie fifth year since a policy was iivltiatcd with the avowed object 
and confideivt promiee of putting an end to slavery agitation. Uoder the operation of 
that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented In 
my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and past. "\ houe^i 
divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this Government cannot endure perma- 
nently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — -I do not. 
expect the house to fall— -but I do expect it wMl cease to be divided. It will become 
all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the farther 
itpread of it, and place it where the public Eoind shall rest in the belief that it is ia the 
course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall beoomfc 
alike lawful in all the States' old as well as new, North as well as South. 

Have we no tendency to the latter condition ? Let any one who doubts carefully con- 
template that now almost complete legal combination, a piece of machinery go to speak, 
compounded of the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott deeiaion. Let him consider 
not ouly what work the machinery is adapted to do, and how well adapted ; but also 
let him study the history of its constructioo, and trace, if he can, or rather fail if he cafii„ 
to trace the evidenced of" design, and concert of action ariaong its chief architects, from the 
beginning. ^-., ' 

The People warned of their danger, and suMnumed to duty.— From the 

same. 

Such a decision is all that slavery now lacks of being alike lawful in all, the States. 
Welcome or unv/eleome, su^h decision is probably coming, and will soon be upon us, 
unless the power of the present political dynasty shall be met and overthrown. We 
Jihall lie down pleasantly dreatning that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making; 
their ytute free, and we shall awake to the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has 
raade Illinois a slave State. To meet and overthroiHr the power of that dynasty is the; 
work now before all those who would prevent that coivsuro.mation. That is what we 
have to do. How can we best do itf 

Free hands and earnest hearts only to be trusted. — Frora the same. 

Our cause must be intrusted to, and conducted by, ite own wndoubt^^d friends, those 
whose haiide are free, whose hearts are in the work,'who'«^o care for the result. 

Tke Popular helief that Slavery was in the course of ziltimnte extinciiony gave 

the Country peace. Hatred of Slavery. 

From. Speech at Chicago, Jtdi/ 10, 1858.. ' 

I am tolerably well acquainted with the history of the couRtry, and i know that it 
ha^ endured eighfcy-two years half elave and half free. I belkve 5t Ixa.? endured ,becai|S€ 



2 ^t^\^ 

dming all that 'time, until the introduction of the Nebraska bill, the public mind did 
reet all the time in the belief that slavery was in the course of ultimate extinction. That 
was what gave us the rest that we had through that period of eighty-two years; at 
least so I believe. I have always hated slavery, I think, as much as any Abou- 

TI0NI8T. 

Slavery a Vast Moral Evil. — From the same. 

The American people look upon slavery as a vast moral evil ; they can prove it sucIj 
by the writings of those who gave us the blessings of liberty which we enjoy ; and that 
they so looked upon it, and not as an evil merely confining itself to the atates where it 
ie situated. 

The Infallibility of the Bred Scott Decision Questioned. — From the same. 

I have never heard of such a thing [the sacredness of the Dred ^cott decision.] Why, 
decisions apparently contrary to that decision have been made by that very court before. 
It is the first of its kind; it is an astonisher in legal history. It is a new wonder of 
the world. It is based upon falsehood in the main as to the facta. Allegations of 
facts, upon which it stands, are not facts at all, in many instances. And no decision 
made on any question — the first instance of a decision made under so many unfavorable 
•eircumstances — thus placed, has ever been held by the profession as law, and it harf 
always needed confirmation before the lawyers regarded it as settled law. 

The Manner in which the White and Blade Races can do each other most 
good. — From the same. 

I protest now and forever against that counterfeit logic which pj'esumes that because 
1 did not want a negro woman for a slave, I do necessarily want her for a wife. My 
understanding is that 1 need not have her for either; but, as God made us separate, we 
can leave one another alone, and do one another much good thereby. There are white 
men enough to marry ail the white women, and enough black men to marry all the black 
women ; and in God's name let them be so married. 

The Declaration of Independence our Bond of Union with all mankind. — 

From the same. 

In every way we are better men in the age, and race, and country in which we live, 
for these Fourth of July celebrations. But after we have done all this, we have not yet 
reached the whole. There is something else counected with it. "We have, besides thes^v 
men — descended by blood from our ancestors — among us, perhaps half our people, who 
are not descendants at all of these men; they are men who have c^rae from Europe — 
German, Irish, French, and Scandinavian — men that have come from Europe themselves, 
or whose ancestors have come hither and settled here, finding themselves our tquals in 
all things. If the}^ look back through this history, to trace their connection with thosf 
days by blood, they find they have none ; they cannot carry themselves back into that 
glorious epoch and make themselves feel that they are part of us, but when they look 
through that old Declaration of Inpependence, they find that those old men say that 
*' We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal;" and then they 
feel that that moral sentiment taught in that day evidences their relation to those men ; 
that it is the father of all moral principle in them, and that they have a right to claim it 
fts though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh, of the men who wrote tha.t 
Declaration — and so they are. That is the electric cord in that Declaration that linki? 
the hearts of patriotic and liberty loving men together, and will link those patriotic 
hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world. 

The assumption that Slavery is right does not stop with one race. — From th 

same. 

Turn in whatever way you will—whether it come from the moath of a king, an excm« 
for enslaving the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a reason 
for enslaving the aien of another race—it is all the same old serpent ; and I hoid if that 
«ouree of argumentation that is made for the purpose of convincing the public mind that 
we should not care about this, should be granted, it does not stop with the negro. 1 
•hould like to know if, taking this old Declaration of Independence, which decures tha-t 
ftll men are equal upon principle, and making exception to it, when will it stop ? If one 
man eays it does not mean a negro, why not another say it does not mean some other 
man? If that declaration is not the truth, let us get the statute book, in which we 
ind it, and tear it out. Who is bo bold as to do it ? 



I 



^. All quibbling as to the ' equality of mankind r/iust be discarded, — From ihs 
- "'- same. 

Let us discard all this qiiibl)ling about this man and the oilier man— tliis race and that 
race, and the other race being inferior, and therefore they must be placed in an inferior 
position — discarding our standard that we have left ub, let us discard all these things, 
and unite as one people throughout tbis land, until we shall once more st&nd up decHaf- 
Ing that all men are created equal. 

The rights of the N'egro. An appeal to the Universal sense of justice. 
From Speech at Springfield, Jaly 1*7, 1868. 

Certainly the negro is not our equal m color — perhaps not in many other respeols : 
still in the right to put into his mouth the bread that his own hands have earned, he'ia 
the equal of every other man, white or black. In pointing out that more has beengivea 
you, you cannot be justified in taking away the little which has been given him. 

The Slaveholders responsihle for a,ll agitation. 

From Speech at Jonesboro, III., Sept 15, 1858. 

All the trouble and convulsion has proceeded from efforts to spread slavery over ffior« 
territory. It was thus at the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again with 
the annexation of Texas; so with the territory acquired by the Mexican war, and it ia so 
now. Whenever there has been an effort to spread it, there has been agitation and r<&- 
sistance. Now, I appeal to this audience, (very few of whom are my political friends,) 
as national men, whether we have reason to expect that the agitation, in regard to thia 
subject, will cease while the causes that tend to reproduce agitation are actually a?, 
work? Will not the same eause that produced agitation in 1820, when the Miasouy* 
Compromise was formed — that which produced the agitation upon the annexatioa of 
Texas and at other times— work out the same results always? Do you think that the 
nature of man will be changed — that the same causes that produced agitation at one 
time will not have the same effect at another ? 

jIs a political ride, the Bred Scoii Decision not binding. Should be reverse 

From Speech at Quincy, III., Oct. 13, 1858. 

We do not propose that when Dred Scott has been decided to be a slave by the eoarl, 
we, as a mob, will decide him to be free. We do not propose that, when any other o»e, 
or one thousand, shall be decided by that court to be slaves, we will, in any violent way, 
disturb the rights of property thus settled ; but we nevertheless do oppose that decisioa 
as a political rale, which shall be binding on the voter to vote for nobody who thinks it 
wrong, which shall be binding on the members of Congress or the President to favor no 
measure that does not actually concur with the principles of that decision. Wc do nci 
propose to be bound by it as a political »ule in that way, because we think it lays the 
foundation, not merely of enlarging and spreading out what we consider an evil, but it 
lays the foundation oi spreading that evil into the States themselves. We propose »o 
resisting it as to have it reversed if we can, and a new judicial rule established upon the 
subject. 

Discards all a^liation tvltk those loho believe Slavery not lorong. — Fram ihi 

same. 

I will say now, that there is & sentiment in the country contrary to me — ^a sentimcat 
which holds that slavery is not wrong, and therefox'e, it goes for the policy that doe^ 
not propose dealing with it as a wrong. That policy is the Democratic policy, and that 
sentiment is the Democratic sentiment. 

The way to end Slavery agiiution^.—From the same, 

I have been stating where we and they stand, and trying to show what is the r«8hi 
difference between us ; and I now say, that whenever we can get the question distinetly 
stated, can get all these men who believe that slavery is in some of these respects wrongi 
to stand and act with us in treating it as a wrong — then, and not till then, I think -w^ 
will in some way come to an end of this slavery agitation. 

TJi€ origin of the assault upon the Declaration of Independence, 

From Speech at AHon^ Oct 16, 1868. 

I know that Mr. Calhoun and ail the politicians of his school, denied the truth of th« 
JDe«laration. I know that it raxi along in the mouth of mmQ southeru men for a perioi^ 



©f years, ending, at last, in that shameful, though rather forcible declaration of Pet t it 
ef Indiana, upoa the floor of the rjaitei States Siaite, th\t thi D^cliritioa of [adepec- 
deace was iu that respect " a self-evident lie," rather than a self-evident truth. But I 
esj, with a perfect knowiedge of all this hawking at the Declaration, -without directly- 
attacking it, that three years ago there never had lived a man who had ventured to 
assail it in the sneaking way of preteading to believe it, and then assert icg that it did 
cot include the negro. I beliere the first man who ever said it, was Chief Justice 
Taney, in the Dred Seott Case. '•^ 

Slavery ignored hy the text of the Constitution. — From the same. 

. In dU three of the?e places, being the only allusions to slavery in the instrument, covert 
language is used. Lauguage is used not suggesting that slavery existed^ or that the black 
race were amotig us. And I undei-f^tarid the contemporaneous history of those times to 
be that coveit langauge was used with a purpose, and that purpose was that in our 
CJoastitution, which it was hoped, and isstiU hoped, will endure forever — when it should 
be read by intelligent and patriotic men, after the. institution of slavery had passed fromt 
eaxong us — there should be nothing on the face of tlie great charter of liberty suggesting 
that such a thing as negro slavery had ever existed among us. This is part of the evi- 
dtjnce that the father^ ot the Glovernnient expected and intended the institution of slavery 
to come to an end. They expected &x\^ intended that it should be in the course of ulti- 
mate extinction. And when [ say that I desire to see the farther spread of it arrested, 
I only say 1 desire to see that done which the fathers have first done. 

The Consequejice^ of' estahUshing the Pri'nciple that there is no 2vrong in Slavery, 

From Speech at Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 1859. 

Then, I say, if this principle is established, that there is no wrong in slavery, and who- 
ever wants it has a right to have it, is a matter of dollars and cents — a sort of questiori 
fts to how they shall deal with brutes; that between us and the negro here there is no 
eort af question, but that at the Soutli the q-aestion is between the negro and the croco- 
dile. That is all. It is a mere matter of policy; there is a perleeb right, according to 
interest, to do just as you please; when this is done when this doctrine prevails the 
ittiiiers and sappers will have formed public opinion for the slave trade. They will be 
ready for Jefi' Davis, end Stephens, and other leadeis of tl-iat conipany, to sound the 
bugle for the revival of the slarve trade, for the second Dred Scott decision, for the flood 
cf slavery to be poured over the free States, while we shall be here tied down and help- " 
"less, and run over like sheep. 

Room enough for all to he Free. 

From Speech at Cincinnati, Sept. 1859. 

I say there is room enough for us ell to be free, and it not only does not wrong the 
white man that the npgro should be free, bat it positively wrongs the mass of white 
men that the negro should be enslaved ; that the mass of white men are really injured 
by the effects of slave labor in the vicinity of the fields of their own labor. 

The Government charged with the Dutij of redressing all Wrongs 2vhkh arc 
Wrongs to itself — From the same. 

We want and must have a national policy, in regard to the institution of slavery, that 
acknowledges and d^ls with that institution as being wrong. Whoever desires the 
prevention of the spread of slavery, and nationalization of that instituton, yields all, 
when he yields to any .policy that either recognizes slavery as being right, or as being 
'en indifferent thing, Kothing will make you successful, but setting up a policy which 
ehall treat the thing as being wrong. When I say this, I do not mean to say that this 
Geileral Government is charged with the duty of redressing or preventing all the wrongs 
in the world; but I do think it is charged with preventing and redressing all wrongs 
which are wrongs to itself. This Government is expressly charged with the duty of pro- 
viding for the general welfare. We believe that the spreading out and perpetuity of 
ih^ institution of slavery, impairs the general welfare. 

We believe, nay, we know, that that is the only thing that has threatened the^^perpe- 
t-uttvofthe Union itself. The only thing which has ever menaced the destruction of 
the GovernnT|nt under which we live, iu this very thing. To repress this thing, we 
think, is proindiiig for the general welfare. 

What the people bg tMir Votes must prevent.— From the same. 

We rnnst prevent the outspreading of the institution, because neither the Constitution 
'tior tbe general welfare require-s us to extend it. We must prevent the revival of the 



Afm&n slave trade, aB>] the enacting, by Congress, of a temfconal slave code. We rawst 
prevent each of these things bting done by either Congresses or couits. The people of 
these United States are the rightful masters of both Cougi-esses and courts not to over- 
throw the Constitufeioo, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. 

He that gathereik not with us^ scaliereili. — Frorfi the same. 

The good old maxims bf the Bible are applicable, and truly applicable, to human 
affairs; aid in this, as in other thin^i^s, we may 9ay here, that he who is not for us is 
against us; he who gathereth^ot with us, scatterethc 

The extent of tki jadgment and feeHrig against Slavery in ihe Kation. 
From Speech at Cooper JpMiiiAle, Feb. 21, 18G0. 

Huraau aelloi! can be niodiiied to some extent, but huinan nature cannot be ehange(J- 
Thci'ft is a judgment and a feeling against slavyi'v in this nation, which east, at least, a 
inilUon and a half of votes. You cannot d'^sti'oy that judgment and feeling, tliat senti- 
ment, by breaking up the political organization, which sallies around it. You cannot 
scarcely, scatter and disperse an army which has been formed into order in the face of 
your heaviest fire ; but if you could, how much would vou gain by forcing the sentiment, 
which created it,' out of tiie peaceful channel of ihe ballot box into some other channel. 
Wli'at would that other channel probably be ? Would the number of John Browns bs 
lessoned, or enlarged by the operation ? 

The Constitution of- the United States vindicated. Iisfram.ers did not intend 
it to be a Pro-Sloroery instrument. The Stand and Deliver Argument, — 
From the same. 

W^V^n this obvious niistate of the Judges [that the right of property in the slave i^ 
distinctly aiid expressly affirmed ia the Constitution] shall be brought to their notice, ia 
it not reasonable to txpect that they will withdraw the raistaken statement, and recon- 
sider the conclusion based upon it? 

And then it is to be remembered that our fathers, who framed the Government un-i^-r 
which we live, the men who made the Constitution, decided this same constitutional ques- 
tion in our favor long ago, decided it without a division among themselves when making 
the decision ; without division among themselves about the meaning of it after it waa 
inade,. and, so far as any evideree is left, without basing it upon any mistaken statement 
of facts. 

But you will not abide the eleciion of a Republican President. In that supposed event, 
you 833-, you will. destroy the Union; and then you say the great crime of having des- 
troyed it will be upoh us? 

That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to niy ear, and mutters through his teeth — ^ 
"Stand andjaeliver, or I shall kill you ; and then you vrill be a murdererl" 

To be sure, w'hat the robberderr;anded of me, my mone}', was my own ; and ?'had a clear 
right to keep it ; but it is no more my own than ro^y vote is ray own ; and the threat of 
death to me to extort ray mone}', and the threat 01 destruction to the Union, to extort my 
TOte, can scarcely be distinguished in principle. 

The slaveholders inqjlacahle. 77ieir de-mands unreasonahle. We camioi yield 
without surrendering our self- respect. — From the same. 

The question occurs — What will satisfy them? Simply this: we must not only let 
them alone, but we must somehow convince them that we do let them alone. This, wis 
know by experience, is no easy task. We have bees so trying to convince them, frosa 
the very beginning of our organization, but with no success. Jn all our platforms and 
speeches we have constantly protested our purpose to let them alone; but this has had 
no tendency to convince them. Alike unavailing to convince them is the fact that tkej 
have never detected a man of us in any attempt to disturb them. 

These- natural, and apparently adequate means, all failing, what will convince them'? 
This, and .his only : cease to call slavery wrong, and join them in calling it right And 
this must be done thoroughly — done in acts, as well ^s> words. Silence will'not be toler- 
ated — we must place ourselves avowedly with them. 

Nor can v>'e justifiably withhold this on any ground save our cjoaviction that slavery is 
wrong. If slavery is right, all words, acts, laws, and constitutions against it are their*- 
selves wrong, and shotild be silenced, and swept away. If it is right, we cannot justly 
object to its nationality — its universality ; if it is wrong, they cannot justly insist upon its 
extension, its enlargement. All tliey asrk, we could readily grant, if we thought elavet^ 
right; all we ask, they could readily grant, if they thought it wrong. Their thinking it 
rJRht. and our thinkin<r it wrons.is the rreeise fact ucou which dimoude the whole contro- 



< 



6 

versy. Thinking it Tight, as they do, they are not to blame for desiring its full recognition , 
fes being right ; but thinking it wjong, as we do, can we yield to therei? Can we cast our 
votes with their view, and against our own ^ In view of our moral, social^ and political 
r^poneibilitieB, can we do this? 

Let us abide hy our Faith and do our duty. — From the same. 

Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened 
Crom it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let 
tifi have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us to the end dare to do our 
duty, as we understand it. 

The Man hefoi-e the Dollar. 

From letter to Boston Jefferson Anniversriri/ Gomniittee, April 6, 1859. 

The Democracy of to-day hold the liberty- of one man to be absolutely nothing, when io 
conflict with another man's right of property. Republicans, on shecontrarj', are both for the 
man and the dollar^ but in the case of conflict, the man before the dollar. 

Be no slave and have no slave. — From the same. 

This is a world of compensations : and he who would be no slave must consent to kaie 
«iO slave. Those who deuy fr<;edom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under, a 
just God, cannot long retain it. 

The inalienable rights of mon reaffirmed , 

• From letter to Dr. Canisius, and other German citizens, May 17, 1859. 

It is well known that \ deplore the opprpssed condition of the blacks; and it wduld, 
therefore, be very inconsistent for me to look with approval upon any measures that infiinge 
«pon the inalienable rights of white men. whether or not they are born in another land, 
or speak a different language from my own. 

Uonscious of his immense responsibility.' A calm and trustful reliance upon 
Divine Providence. yisks prayers for that Divine Assistance on which 
Washington reposed^ and which will give him success. 

Froyn Speech on leaving SpringfielcL Mhrnary 1, 18&1. 

A duty devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved upon 
&ay other man since the days of Washington. He never could have succeeded except 
for the aid of the Divine Providence, upon which he at all' times relied. I feel that I 
cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him ; and in the same Al- 
Cilghty Being I place my reliance for support, and I hope you, my friends, will all pray 
tltat 1 may receive that Divine assistance, without which i cannot succeed, but with 
which success is certain. 

. The enforcement of the laws in all the StoAcs a simple duty., which v,ith the help 
of the American people^ shall be faithfully performed. 

From the Inaugural Address. 

I consider that, in view of<, the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken, and, 
Ko the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins 
ene, that the laws of theUriion shalll be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this, 
which I deem to be only a simple duty on ray part, i shall perfectly perform it, so far as is 
•practical, unless m.y rightful master?, the American people, shall withhold the requisition, 
or, in some authoritative manner, direct the contrary. 

Rebels the authors of their own calamities. No constitutional rights infringed 
upon. Friendly vjords of advice. No cause for disaffection. — From the 
Same. 

That there are persons, in one section or another, who seek to destroj' the Union at all 
events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither afiirm nor deny. But, if there 
foe such, I need address no word to them. • 

To those, however, who really love the Union, may I not speak, before entering upon so 
^jgy&Y.eamatteiL-asthe destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories 



and its hopes ? Would it cot be well to ascertuin why we do it ? Will you hazard so des- 
perate a step, while any portion of the ills you fly froyii have bo real existence ? Will you, 
while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real onesyoii fly from? Will you 
risk the commission of go fearful a mistake? All profess to be content in the Union, if all 
constitutional rights can be- maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written 
in the Constitution, has been denied? I think not. Happily, the human mind is so coa- 
*itituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. 

The majority/ of the peoiile the only legitimate sovereign of this nation. — From 

the same. 

A majority held in restraint by constitutional check and limitation, and always chang- 
ing easily vrith deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the ovAy true sav- 
ereign of a iiQG people. Whoever rejects it, does, of neecssity, fly to anarchy or to des- 
potism. 

The Supreme Court not the masters of the people. — From the same. 

The candid citizen miist coafess that if the policy of the Government upon- the vital 
questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocabl}^ fixed by the decisions of the 
Supreme Court, the instant they arc made, as m ordinary litigation between parties in 
personal actons, the people will have ceased to be their own masters, unless having t* 
ihat extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tri- 
bunal. 

The Government icill make no assaults. The aggressors to he held accountahh. 
An oath registered in Heaven to protect the Government. A touching appeal 
to patriotism. — From the same. 

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous 
iesue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. 

You CAN HAVE NO CONFLICT WITHOUT BEING TOURSELVKS THK AGGRESSORS. YoU have n» 

i'ath registered in Heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the mostsolema 
one to " preserve, protect, and defend" it. ^ 

I am loath to close. We are uot enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies,. 
Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. 

The mystic chords of mem.ory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot's grave to 
every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of 
the Union, when again vouched, as surel}^ they will be, by the better angels of our na- 
ture. 

The question of the ahilitu of a, Constitutional Republic to protect itself agaimt 
the attacks of a discontented minority.^ now to he settled. The necessity #/ 
exercising the War Power. 

From Message of July 4, 1861. 

Tn this act [the attack on Fort Sumter] discarding all else, they haveftjrced upon the 
eountry the distinct issue, immediate dissolution or blood, and this issue embi'aces more 
than the fat,e of these United States. It presents to the whole famil}'- of man the ques- 
tion, whether a constitutional Republic or Democracy, a government of the people, by 
ihe same people, can or cannot maintain its territorial integritj^ against its own domestic 
foes. It presents the question whether discontented individuals, too few in numbers t« 
control the x\dministration according to the organic law in any case, can alwaj^s, upon 
the pretences made in this case, or any other pretences, or arbitrarily vvMthout any pre- 
tence, break up tiieir government, ft!id thus practically put an end to free governmeafc 
upon the earth. It forces us to ask, "Is there in all Republics this inherent and fatal 
weakness?'' Must a government of neces?ity be too strong for the liberties of its owtt 
people, or too weak to maintain its own existence? Soviewing the issues no choice wa» 
left but to call out the war power of the Government, and so to resist the force employed, 
for its destruction by force for its preservntion. The call was made, and the response of 
the country was most gratifying, surpassing in unanimity and spirit the most sanguine 
' xpectation. 

Tlie Benefits of our Free Institutions. The intellectual caliber of our Volun- 
teer Soldiers. — From the same. 

It may be affirmed, without extravagance, that the free institutions we enjoy have da - 
veloped ihe powers and improved the condition of our whole people beyond any example 
n the world. Of this we now have a striking and impressive illustration. So large aa 



8 

*rmy as the Govercment has now on foot was never before known, without a soldier in 
it but who has taken his place there of his own free choice. But more than this, thert- 
are many single regiments, whose members, one and another, poeeees full practical know- 
ledge of all the arts, sciences, profepsions, aud whatever else, whether useful or elegant, 
ie known in the whole world, and there is scarcely one from which there cotiU not be se- 
iected a President, a Cabinet, a Congress, and perhaps a Court, abundantly, cmw/ctent to 
administer the Government 



The Rebel Declaration of Independence a burlesque; their Constitution a skatn. 
The^ rights of rnan wnd the authority of the people p)ressed out of view. This 
is a struggle to elevate the condition of humanitij. — From the same. 

Our adversaries have adopted some declarations of independence in which, utilike the 
good old one penned by Jefferson, they omit the words, "all men are cieated equal/' 
Why? Tliey have adopted a Temporary National Constitution, in the prean-ible of which, 
anlike our good old one signed by Washington, they omit "We, the people, and substi- 
tute " We, the Deputies of the Sovereign and Independent States." Why ? Why this 
deliberate pressing out of view the i-ights of men and the authority of the people? Thin 
is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the Union it is a struggle for fuaintaining 
in the world that form ojid substance of govcr7iment, 2vho.Hc leading object is to elevate the 
condition of men, to lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of laudable 
pursuit for all, to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life, yield- 
ing to partial and temporary departures from necessity. This is the leading object of thf 
Ooi}ernment, for lehose existence im contend, , 

This is the People's Governmerd^ and they will maintain by the Bullet the de- 
cision by Ballot. Pampered Officers have proved false ^ but not one comr/ioi- 
soldier or saicor has deserted his Plag. A Lesson to be taught the beginner^' 
of the War. — Prom the same. 

It is worthy of note, that while in this, the Government's hour of trial, large number.^ 
©f those in the array and navy who have been favored with the offices have resigned and 
proved false to the hand which pampered theiji, not one common soldier nor common 
sailor is known to have deserted his flag. Great honor is due to those ofBceis who re- 
mained tiue, despite the example of their treacherous associates; but the greatest honor 
and the mos^t important fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers and 
aailors. To the last man, so iar as known, they have successfully resisted the traitorous 
efforts of those whose commands but an hour before they obeyed as absolute law. This 
is the patriotic instinct of plain people. They understand, without an argument, that 
the destroying the Government which was made by Washington means no guud to them. 
Our popular Government has often been called an experinient. Two points in it our 
people have settled; the successful establishing and the successful administering of it. 
One still remains, its successful maintenance against a formidable-internal atteiiipt to 
©yerthrow it. It is now for them to demonstrate to the world, that those who can fairly 
«arry an election, can also suppress a rebellion ; that ballots are the rightful aad peaceful 
successors of bullets. And that when ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, 
there can be no successful appeal back to bullets; that there can be no successful appeal 
except to ballots themselves, at succteding elections Such will be a great let^son of peace, 
teaching men that what they cannot take by an election, neither can they take by a war; 
teaching all the folly of being the beginners of a war. 

The War Poioer employed with regret. Compromise could not cure^ and would 
he a dangerous precedent. — From the same. 

It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the dut^^ of employing the 
war power. In defence of the Government forced upon him, he could but perform this 
<flut5% or surrender the existence of the Govei-nment. No compromise by public servants 
*ould in this case be a cure, not that compromises are not often proper, but that no pop- 
iUar Government can long survive a marked precedent, that those who carry an election can 
4nly save the Government from immediate destruction by giving up the tnain poi^it upon 
which the people gave the election. Hie people themselves, and not their servants, can safely 
Averse their own deliberate .decisions. 

The Pi'esident, unswayed by position, and power, does not forget that he is a man 
and an American citizen. — From the same. 

As a private citizen, the Executive could not have consented that these insl.ifutions shall 
perish, rriuch less could he, in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust €cs this free peoph 
%€cd confided to'him. He felt that he had no moral right to shrink, nor even to count thf 
Chances of his own life in what might follow. 



9 

Men in authority rising with the occasion^ must think a7id act anew. If they 
are self sacrificing and earnest in their 2^cit-''iotism, Idstory will do them jus- 
tice. In. f/ivinj freedom to the slaiH\ 2oe assure frecdovi to the free. 

From Messagt: of December 1, 1862. 

The dograns of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion ie 
piled high with difficulty, and we ir.ust rise with the occasion. As oui* case is nev\', sf 
we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shal.; 
save our country. 

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We, of this Congress and this Administra- 
tion, will be 'remembered in spite of oarselves. Ko personal signitieairce. or insiguificanee; 
can spare one or anoiher of us. The tlery trial through which W3 pass will light usdown, 
in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We sny we are fur the Union. The woi-ld 
will'not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world know« 
we do know how to save it. We — even loe here — hold the power, and bear the rcsp^nsJ- 
bilitj'. In givbi.g freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — Isonoiable alike 
in what we give and v/hat we preserve. We shall nobly save, or nieanly lose, the last, 
best hope of earth. Other means may succeed — this could not fail. The way is plain,. 
peaceful, generous, just — a way v/hich, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and 
God must forever biess. 

An Appeal to the patriotism of the people. 

From Proclamation of April 15, 1861. 

I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, andv^id this eiTort to'maintain the 
honor, tlie ijj^egrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of poj- 
ular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. 

Compensated Emanciim tion recommended. 
From Proda-mation of May 19, 1862. 

On the sixth day of Mitreh last, by a special message, I recommended to Congress the 
adoption of a joint resolution, t© be substantially as follows: 

Resolved, Th^t the United States ought to co operate with any State which may adopt 
a gradual abolishaient of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by sijch 
State in its discretion, to compensate for tiie inconveuieaces, public and private, producea 
by such change of system. , 

The resolution, in the language above qiiofced, was adopted by large majorities in both 
branches of Congress, and now stands an authentic, definite, and solemn proposal ot the 
nation to the States and people most immediately interested in the eubjtict matter. To 
the people of thoje States I now earnestly appeal. I do not argue — 1 beseech you to 
make the argument fo- yourselves. You, cannot, if you would, be blind to the i^igns oi' 
the timts, 1 beg of you a eahn and enlarged consideration of them, ranging, if ir. may 
be, far above personal and partisan politics. Ttds proposal makes common cause for a 
common subject, cashing no reproaches upon Q,\\y. it acts not the Pharisee. The change 
it contemplaies would come gently as the dews of Heaven, not rending or wrecking any- 
thing. Will you not embrace it? So much good has not been done, by one elfui't, ia 
all past time as, in the Providence of God, it is now your high privilege to d.o. May 
the vast iuiure not have to lament that you have neglected it. 

Our national sins acknowledged, and prayer for clemency and forgiveness re- 

. commended. 

From ProcIamatiGn of March ZOth, 1863, appointing a day of fasthig a7id prayer. 

May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolate!? 
the laud may be but a punishment inflicled upon us for our presumptuous sins, to ih« 
needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients 
of the choicest bounties of Heaven, We have been preserved these many yearain praee 
and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no, other uiitioo ha* 
ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which 
preserved us in peace and'i^uultiplied,. enriched, and strengthened us; and we have 
daily imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced 
by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, 
we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preeerviuggract, 
too proud to pray to the God that made us. 

It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess onr 
national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. 



10 

Th^ coming of the JSmancipation Frodamation announced. 

From Frodamation of Sept 2&th, 1862. 

It is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again r^ commend the adoption, 
of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejeclion of all 
filave States, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United 
States, and which States ma}' then ha^e voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voUmta- 
rilyadopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; 
»ud that the effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon this 
eontiuect or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the]government8exiBting 
there, will be continued. 

That on the first da}' of January, in the year of our Lord gne thousand eight hundred 
and sixtythree, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a Stat^ 
the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, i<hall be then, 
thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Executive Coverument of the United States, 
including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the free- 
dom of •juch persons, and will do no act nor acts to repress such persons, or any of them, 
iu an}' efforts they ma}' make for their actual freedom. 

The ]yrotection of tlto Army and Navy tendered to the cscajjcd hondmen of 
rebels. — From the same. 

Attention is hereby called to an act of Coifgress entitled " An act to make an additional 
article of war," approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures 
.following: 

Be it eiiacted by the Senate and House of Representaiive^t of the United Siafc.t of America 
in Congresfi assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional 
article os war, for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed 
and obsfuved as such ; 

ARTicr-E. — All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States, 
are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the 
purpose of returning fugitives from si^rvice or labor who may have escaped from any 
persons to whom such service or labor is claimed tQ be due ; and any officer who shall be 
found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the ser- 
vice. 

"Sec. 2, And be it further enacted, That this act sball take effect from and after its 
[^ssage.". 

Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled "An act to suppre-s insurrec- 
tion, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, aiid for 
other purposes,'' ayproved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures 
following ; 

" Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be en- 
gaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way 
give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines 
of the army ; and all slaves captured from such pei'sons or deserted by them, and coming 
under the control of the Government of the United States ; and all slaves of such persons 
found on [o;] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afierwards occupied 
by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever 
free of their servitude, and not again hfld as slaves. 

"Sko. 10. And be it jurther enacted, That no slave escaping into State, Territory, or the 
District of Columbia, Trom any State, shall be delivered up. or in any way impeded or 
hindered of his liberty, except for- crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the per- 
son claimiig said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the lab.>r or ser- 
vice of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arras 
against the Ui.ited States in the preisent rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort 
thereto ; ahd no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United Sia es .-hall, 
under any pretense whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any p; rs^n 
to the service or labor of any other person, or sur-reuder u[) any sueh person to theciaim- 
aat, on pain of being dismissed from the service." 

And 1 do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval 
•service of the United States to observe, obev, and enforce, within their respective spheres of 
service, the act^ and sections above recited. 

The promise redeemed. The great historical event of the century^ Freedom 
proclaimed to the Slave. 

From Proclamation, January 1, 1863. 

IK'ow, therefore, T, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, bv virtue of the 
power in me vci^ted a* commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, in 
time of actual and armed rebellion against the auihoritv and Government of the United 



11 

/ 

Siates, and as a fit aBdnoceBsary war measure for sxippressing said rebellioi^ do, on this first 
day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight huadrc-d and sixt3--three, and 
ia accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one 
hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and 
parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against 
the United States, the following, to wit: . '' 

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Bernaid, Plaquemines, Jefferson, 
>^t. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, A.ssuraption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. 
Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans.) Mississippi, Ala- 
bataa, Floi'ida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty- 
eight counties designated as West Virginia, aud also the counties of Berkeley, Aceomae, 
Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of 
Norfolk, and Portsmouth,) and which excepted parts are fouthe present left precisely as 
if this proclamation were not issued, 1 

■ And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that 
all pe;-sons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States, are, and 
uenceforward shall be free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, ia- 
okiding the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognise and maintain the free- 
dom of said persons. 

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from. all violence, 
unless in necessajy self defense ; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when al- 
lowed, they labor faithfuiiy for reasonable wages. 

And I further declare and make known ,that such persons, of suitable condition, will 
be received into the armed service of the Ignited States to garrison forts, positions, sta- 
tions, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. 

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Consti- 
tution upon miiitary necessity, 1 invoke the considerate- judgment of mankind, and the 
gracious favor of Almighty God. 

Syynpatky with the Rehellion de'picted, lAheriyMof Speech^ Lthsrty of the Press, 
and the Writ of Habeas Cor2yus designed to protect Libert]/^ not to subvert it. 

From the Letter to Erastus Oorrdng and others, June 12, 1863. 

Prior to my installation here it had been inculcated that any State had a lawful right 
to secede from the National Union, and th:it it would be expedient to exercise the right 
whenever the devotees of the doctrine should fail to elect a President to their own liking. 
I was elected contiary to their liking; and accordingly, so f-tr as it was legally possi- 
ble, they had taken seven States out of the Union, had seized many of the United States 
forts, and had hred npon the United States flag, all before I was inauguratt^d, and, of 
course, before I had done any official act whatever. The rebellion thus bc-'gan soon ran 
into the present civil war ; and, in certain respects., it began on very unequal terms between 
the parties. The insurgents had been preparing for it more than thirry years, while the 
government had taken no steps to resist them. The former had carefully considered all 
the means which could be turned to their aoeount. It undoubted.y was a weli-pondered 
reliance with tiiem, that in their own unrestricted efforts to dtstroy Union, Constitution, 
and law, altogtther, the Government woijld, in gr at, degree, be?estraioedby the same Con- 
stiutiou and law from arresting their progress. Their sympathizers pervaded all depart- 
ments of the Government and nca?ly all communities of the peojjl*^. Fiom this material 
under cover of -'libertj' of speech," "liberty of the press," and "habeas eorpns," they 
hoped to keep on foot amongst us a most efficient corps of spies, informers, s\ipn'iers, and 
aiders, and abbettors of their cause in a thousand ways. They knew that in tirues sucdi as 
they were inauguraiiug, by the Constitaiion itself, the " hab:^as corpus " might, be sus- 
pended; but they also knew they had fiiends who would make a question as to who was 
to suspend it; meanwhile their spies and others might remain- at larsre to help oti their 
ccu.se. Or, if, as has happened, the Executive should suspend the writ, wif-hout ruinoua 
waste of time, instances of arresting innocent persons might occur, as are always likply 
to occur in such eases ; and then a clamor could be raised iii regard to tids which might 
be, at least, of some service to the insurgent cause. It needed no very keen percf-ption 
to discover this part of the enemy's programme, so soon as by open hostilities their ma- 
chinery? was fairly put in motion. Yet. thoroughly iubaed with a reverence for the 
guarantied riyhts of individuals, I was slow to adopt the strong measures r-hich by de- 
greeik I have been foieed to regard as being within tlie exceptions of the Constitutiof/, and 
as indispensable to the public safety. Nothirtg is better known to history than that 
courts of justice are utterly incompetent to sueh cases. Civil courts are organized chiefly 
for trials of individuals, or, at m.o-t, a few individuals acting in concert; and this in quiet 
times, and on chars;es of crimes well defined in tlie law. Even in times of peace bjnda 
of horsethieves and robbers fi-equently grow too numerous and powerful for the ordinary 
courts of justice But what conifiarison, in numbers, h;tve such bands ever borne to the 
'Et-urgent sympathizers even in many of the loyal States? Again, ajary too fivqnently 
has at least one member m.ore ready to hang the panel than to hang the traLur. And 



12 

yet, again, he vi^lio dissuades oue man from volunteering, or induces one soldier to de- 
sert, weakens the Union cause as much as he -who kills a Union soldier in battle. Yet 
this dissuasion or indueesnent may b^ so conducted as to be no dedned crime of which 
any civil court would take cognizance. 

^The logic of the I'orpid Copperheads overturned. — From the same. 

The man who stands hy and says nothing when the peril of his Government is discuss- 
ed, cannoL be misunderstood. If not hindered, he is sure to help the enemy ; much uioye, 
if lie talks ambiguously — talks for his country with " buta" and " ifs" and " ands." Oi' 
how little valut! the constitutional provisions I have quoted will be rendered, if arrests 
shall never be made until defined crimes shall have been committed, may be illustiated 
by a few notable examples. General John C. Breckinridge, Genei'al PuuhertE. Lee, Gen- 
eral Joc^eph E. Johnston, General John B. Magtuder, Genei'al William B. Preston, General 
Simon B. Buckner, and Commodore Franklin Buchanan, now occupying the very highest 
places in the rebel war service, were all within the power of the Government since the re- 
bellion began, and were nearly a^ well known to be traitors then as now. Unquestiona- 
bly if we had seized and held them, the insurgent cause would be much weaker. Bat no 
one of them had then couimitted any crime defined in the law. Every one of them, if ar- 
rested, woa'ld have been dis'jharged on habeas corpus were the writ allowed to operate. 
]n view of these and similar eas^s, 1 thiak the time not unlikely to come when I shall' be 
blamed ior hAving made too ieN arrests rather than too many. 

'' Mast 1 shoot a siinple-minded Soldier-boi/, who deserts, while I must not touch 
a hair of the vjily, agitator who induces him to desert f^ — From the same. 

I understand the meeting, whose resolutions I am considering, to be in favor of snpreas- 
ing the rebellion by luilitary force — by armies. Long experience has shown that ai-mies 
cannot be muiiiained unless desertion shall be punished by the severe penalty of death. 
The case requiies, and the law and the Constitution sanction, this punishment. Must I 
ehoot a sim|>le-minded soldier boy who deserts, while 1 must )iot touch a hair of a wily 
agitator wuu induces him to deseit ? This is none the less injuiious wlien effected by 
getting a ialher, or brotner, or friend, into a j)ublic meeting, and there working upon his 
feeluigs til! he is pei'suaded to write the soldier-boy that he is fighting in a bad cause, 
for jt wicked administration of a contemptible Government, too weak to arrest and punish 
him if he shall deseit. I think that in such a ca^^e, to silence the agitator and save the 
boy is not only constitutional, but withal a great mercy. 

Constitutional Power in cases of Pahl'c Danger. — From the same. 

If it be wropg on this quesiion of constitutional power, ray error lies in believing that 
certaifi pi'oceedings aie constitutional when, in eases of rebellion or iuvasion, the public 
safety requires them, which would not be constitutional when, in absence of rebellion or 
invasion, the public safety dues not require them : in other words, that the Constitution 
is not, in its a|»j)lit ation, in ail respectslhe same, in eases of rebellion or invasion involving 
the public safety as it is in timesof profound peace and public security. The Cunstitution 
itself makes the distinction; and I can no more be persuaded that the Government can 
constitutionally take ly) strong measures iu time of rebellion, because it can be shown 
that the .-fioie euuid not be lawfully taken in time of peace, than 1 can be persuaded that 
a paiticular drug i>< ijot good medicine for a sick man, because it can be shown to not be 
good food fur a well one. Jv^or aai 1 able to appreciate the danger apprehei^ded by the 
nieesirig that the Auieiicaa people will, by means of military arrests duiing tl'.e rebellion, 
lose the riijht of public discussion, the liberty of speeoh and the press, the law of evidence, 
t)ial by jury, and habeas coipus, throughout the indefinite peaceful future, wl)ich I trust 
lies b< foie the.n, an}' more than 1 hui able to believe that a man could c*uitract so strong 
an apjieiite for euieiies during temporary illness as to persist in feeding upon ihem during 
the remainder of his healthful life. 

President Lincoln occupies a level higher than any Party platform. — F/orn the 

same. • 

In this time of national peril I would have preferred to meet you on a level one' step 
higher than any party platform; because I am sure that, from such more elevated posi- 
tion, we could d,o better battle for the country >v-e al! love than we possibly can from 
thuie lower ones where, from the force of habit, the prejudices of the pa^t, and saltish 
hopes of the future, we are sure to spend much of our ingenuity and strength lu finding 
fault with, and aiming blows at. eaeti other. But since you have denied me this, 1 will 
yet be triinkftjl, for the country's sake, that not all democrats have done so. He on whose 
discretionary ju igmeat Mr. Vallandigham was arrested and tried is a democrat, having 
no old party athnity with me; and the judge who rejected th e constilutioaal view, ex- 



13 

pressed in these resolutions, by refusing to diaeliarge Mr. Yallandienam on haheax corcus 
IS ft deroooat of better days than these, bavin^c received his judicial mantle at the hands 
of Pi-eeident Jackson. And still more, of all those deraocrats who are nobly exposing 
their lives and sheddins: their blood on the battle-field, I have learned that many approve 
the courae takeii with Mr. Yallandigham, while I have not heard of a single one coudema 
tng it. 

The example of General Jackmn died. — F\om the same. 

It raay be remai'ked : First, that we bad the same Constitution then (when General 
Jackson suspended the writ of habeas corpus at New Orleans, and arrested Judge Hall, 
Hcd others.) as now ; secondly, that we then bad a ca-^e of invasion, and now wa have a 
case of rebellion ; and, third!}', that the permanent right of the people to public discus- 
sion, the liberty of s})eeeh and of the press, the trial by jur}^ the lav/ of evidence, and the 
habe.18 corpus, suffered no detriment whatever by that condaet of General Jackson, or 
its subsequent approval by the American Congress. 

The CoTfimander- in- Chief must take the responsihility, and ash justification 

from the People. 

From- Letter to the Yallandigham Comvnitee, Janitary 29, 1863. 

You ask in substance whether I really claim that T may override all the guarantied 
rights of i.'idividuals, oo the plea of conserving the public safety, when I may choose to 
say the public safety requires it. This question, divested of the phraseology calculated 
to represent me as struggling for an arbitrary personal prerogative, is either simply a 
question who shall decide, or an aflnrrnation that nobody shall decide, what the public 
safety does require in cases of rebellion or invasion. The Constitution contemplates the 
question as likely to occur for decision, but it does r.ot^ expressly, declare who is to decide 
it. By necessary implication, when rebellion or invasion comes, the decision is to be 
be made, from titne to time, and I think the man whom, for tlie lime, the people have, 
under the Constitution, made the Commander-in-Chief of their army and nav}', is ihe maa 
who holds the power, and'bears the responsibility of making it. If he uses the power 
justly, the same people will probably justify him ; if he abases it, he is in their hands, to 



The whole MoAter narroived down to a Question between Patriotism and Trea- 
son. — From the same. 

Your nominees for Gorernor, [Yallandigham,) in whose behalf you appeal, is known 
t-o yea and to the world, to declare against the use of an army to suppress the rebellioa. 
Your own attitude, tl^ierefore, encourages desertion, resistance to the draft, and the like, 
because it teaches those who incline to deseyt and escape the draft, to believe it is your 
purpose to protect them, and to hope that you will become strong enough to do so. 

After a short personal intercourse with you, gentlemen of the committee, I cannot say 
I think you desire this effect to fullow your attitude; but T assure you that both friends 
ftnd enemies of the Union look upon it in this light. It is a substantial hope, and by 
coftsequence, a real strength to the enemy. It is a false hope, and one which you would 
williiigly dit^pel. I will make the way exceedingly easy. I send you duplicates of this 
letter, iu order that you, or a majoi-ity, may, if you choose, endorse your names upon one 
of them, and return it thus endorsed to me, with the understanding that those signing are 
thereby- committed to the following propositions, and to nothing else: 

1, That there is now a rebellion 'u\ the United States, the object and tendency of whi«h 
is to destroy the National Union; and that in your opinion an army and navy are consti- 
tutional means for suppressing that rebellion. 

2. That no one of you will do anything which, in his own judgement, will tend to 
hinder the increase, or favor the decrease, or lessen the tfliciene}' of the army and navy 
while engaged in the effort to suppress that rebellion; and 

Z. That each of j'ou will, in his sphere do ail he can to have the officers, soldiers, anj 
eeamen of the army and navy, while engaged in the effort tj suppress the rebellion, paid, 
fed, clad, and otherwise well provided for and supported. 

And will) the further understanding that upon receiving the letter and names thus 
endorsed, I wib cause thera to be published, which publication shall be, within itself,, a 
re-vocation of the order in relation to Mr. Yallandigham. 

No compromise with rebels in arms practical. 
From Letter to James C. Conklinr/, August 26, 1868. 

1 do not believe any compromise embracing the maintenance of the Union id now 
possible. All I learn leads to a directly opposite belief. The strength of the rebellion is 
its military — its army. That army dominates all the country and all the people within 



14 

its range. Any offer of terms made by any man or men wifcliin that range, in opposition 
to that army, is simply nothing for the present, because such man or men have no power 
whatever to enforce their side of a compromise, if one were made with them. 



Pi 



The -Emancipation Proclamation Jastijied, lis Benefits pointed out. *' Th 
Pormise made must he kept'"' ^^Tke Job was a great National one, and I 
none be banned who bore an honorable pa.rt in itJ' ^"I'har/ks to aW'' The 
memories of Black Men and of ^^ some White Onesf^ ivhen Peace shall come. 
— From, the same. 

You disliked the emancipation proclamation, and perhaps yon would have it retetra*.-.- 
ted. You say it ia unconstitutional, I think differently. 1 think the Constitution invests 
its Commander-in-chief with the law of v/ar in time of war. The most that can be eaid 
— if so much — is thatslaves are property. Is tliere, has there ever been, any question thar. 
loy the law of war property, both of enemies and friends, may be taken when needed ? And 
is it not needed whenever taking it helps us, or hurts the enemy? Armies, the world 
©ver, destroy enemies' property when they cannot use it, ana even destroy their own, to 
keep it fi'om the enemy. Civilized belligerents do all in their power to. help tberaselves 
or hurt the enemy, except a f^w things, regarded as barbarous or cruel. Among the 
exceptions are the massacre of vanquished foes and non-combatants, male and female. 
But the proclamation, as law, either is valid, or is not valid. If it is not valid, it needs 
no retraction. If it is valid, it cannot be retracted any more than the dead can be brought 
to life. Some of you profe.^s to think its retraction would operate favorably for the 
Union. Why better after the retraction than before the issue. There was more than a 
year and a half of trial to suppress the rebelMon beforo the proclamation issued ; the last 
one hundred days of which passed under an explicit notice that it was coming, unles? 
averted by those who revolt, returning r.o their allegiance. The war has certainly pro- 
gressed as favorably for us since the issue of the proclamation as before, I know, as tuDy 
as one can know the opinions of others, that some of the commanders of our armies in the 
field, who have given us our most important successes, believe the emancipation poliey 
and the use of colored troops constitute the heaviest blow yet dealt to the rebellion 
and that at least one of those important successes could not have been achieved when it 
was, but for the aid of black soldiers. Among the commanders holding these views, are 
some who have never had any affinity with what is called Abolitionism, or with Repub- 
lican party politics, but who hold them purely as military opinions. I submit these opin- 
ions, as being entitled to some weight against the objections often urged that emancipation 
and arming, the blacks are unwise as military measure?, and were not adopted as such in 
good faith. You say you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them seem willing l-u 
fight for you. But no matter; fight you, then, exclusively to save the Union. I issued 
the proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. Wlienever you shall have 
conquered all resistance to the Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be 
an apt time then for you to declare that you will not fight to free negroes. I thought 
that in your struggle for the Union, to whatever extent the negroes should cease helpinc 
the enemy, to that extent it weakened the enemy in his resistance to you. Do you think 
differently ? I thought that whatever negroes can be got to do aa soldiers, leaves jup-r 
so mifch less for white saldiers to do in saving the Union. Does it appear otherwise to 
you ? But negroes, like other people^ act upon motives. Why should theiy do anything for 
us, if xoe will do nothing for them? If they stake their lives for 7is, they must be projnpted 
by the strongest motive, even the promise of freedom. And the promise being made, muat h^ 
kept. 

The signs look better The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea. Thank? 
to the great Is"orthwest for it. Nor yet wholly to them. Three hundred miles up they 
met New England, Empire, Keystone, and Jersey, hewing their way right and left Th« 
sunny South, too, in more colors than one, also lent a hand. On the spot, their part of 
the history was jotted down, in black and white. The job was a great national one, and 
let none be banned who bore an honorable part in it. While those who have cleared 
the great river may well be proud, even that is not ail. It is hard to say that anythirjr 
has been more bravely and well done than at Antietam, Mufreesboro' , Gettysburg, s.nd 
on many fields of lesser note. Nor must Uncle Sam's web-feet be forgotten. At all thf 
watery margins they have been present ; not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the 
rapid river, but also up the narrow muddy bayou ; and wherever the ground was a litUf 
damp, they have been, and made their tracks. Thanks to all for the great Republic, <W 
the princip'e it lives by and keeps alive — for man's vast future — thanks to all. 

Peace does not appear so distant as it did, I hope it will come soon, and come to stfty, 
and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been provevi 
that among free men there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, acd 
that vhey who take such appeal are sure to lose their case, and pay the cost. And iktr» 
there will be some black men who can remember that with silent tongue and with elemhed 
teeth, and steady eye and well poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great 
constimmation ; while I fear there mil be some white ones unable to forgetjlhat mth nuiHfl- 
nani .heart ami deceitful speech they have strove to hinder it. 



15 

The proclamations in regard to slauery inviolable. 
From the Annual Message, Decembers, 1863. 

But if It be proper to require as a test of admission to the political body en oath Gf 
allegiance to the United States, and to the Union tmder it, why not also to the laws and 
proclamations in regard to slavery. 

Those laws and proclamations I'jcre put forth for the purpose of aiding in ihr^ wppressu^k 
of the rebellion. To give them the fnllest effect there had to be a pledge for their main- 
tenance. In my judgemerit they have aided, and will further aid, the cause for which they 
were intended- 

To nov) abandon them would be not only to relinqwidt a lever 'of pow'eT^ bui nfould aho 
be a cruel and astounding breach of faith. 

I may add, at this point, vddle I remain in my preseyit position, I shall -noi attempt to 
retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall 1 return, to slavery any perswi. 
who is free by the teryns of that Proclamation, or by any of the acts of Congress. 

*' So far as iented^ it is difficult to say they are not as good soldiers as any. '' 

Fro7n the same. 

Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the rebellion, full 100^ 000 are siow in the 
ITniteu Slates service, about one-half of which number actualy bear arms in the ranks, 
ihus gis'eing the double advantage of taking so much labor from the insurgent cause, and 
snpplyii^g the places which other vi'-ise, must be ■P^'i^d with so many white men. So far as 
tested, it is difficult to say they are not as ~ soldiers as an3^ No servile ingurre^tion 
or tendenej' to violence or cruelty has mariied. the measures of EmancipatioB and arming 
the blacks. 

The vjar power our chief reliance. The Arm.y and Navy. — From the same. 

While I do not repeat nor detail what I have heretofore so earnestly iirged 'cpon this 
subject, my general views and feelings remain unchanged; and I trust that Congress will 
omit no iair opportunity of aiding these iniportant steps to the great consummation, lo. 
the midst of other cares, however important, we must not lose sight of the fact that the 
war power is still our main reliance. To that power alone can we look for a time to give 
confidence to the people in the contested regions, that the insurgent power will not agaia 
overrun them. Until that cotifidenceihali be established, little can be done any where 
for what is called reconstruction. 

Hence our chieftest care must still be directed to the Arra}^ and Navy, wivicb have thug 
far borne their harder part so nobly and well ; and it may be esteemed fortunate that in 
giving the greatest efficiency to these indispensable arras we do honorably recognize 
the gallant men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to whom more 
than to others the world must stand indebted for the home of freedom disenthralled, 
regenerated, enlarged and perpetuated. 

^ In. his right hand he carries gentle peace 
To silence envious tongues. He is just, and fears not ; 

All the things he aims at are his countrfs, 
His God's, and truths. 

THE AMNESTY PROCLAMATION 

Whereas, In and by the Constitutioa of the United States, it is provided that tfee 
President "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment ; " and 

Whereas, A rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State Governments of several Stat«? 
have for a long time have been subverted, and many persons have committed and are now 
guiltj^ of treason against the United States ; and 

Whereas, With reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by 
Congress declaring foi'feltnres and confiseatrons of property and liberation of slaves. &U 
upon terms and conditions therein stated ; and also declaring that the President was therby 
auahorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have 
participated in the existing rebellion in any State, or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, 
with such exceptions and at such times and on such conditions as he may deem expe- 
dient for the public welfare ; and 

Whei-eas, The Congressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon accords 
with the well established judicial exposition of the pardoning power; and 

Whereas, With reference to the said Rebellion the President of the United States hm 
iftsued several proclamations with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves ; and 

Whereas, It is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in the said rebelliom 
to resume thei^ allegiance to the United States, and to reinaugurate loyal Slate govern- 
ments within and for their respective States. 

Therefore I, Abahara Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare and 
make known to all parties who have directly or by implication participated in the exi^1^- 
ing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them 



16 

and to each of them, with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in 
property cases where the rights of third parties shall have intervened, svad upon the con- 
dition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep 
%ud maintain such oath inviolate, and which oath shall be registered for permanent preser- 
vation, and nhall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit: 

"1, , do solemnly swear in the presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth 

faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United .States and the Union 
of the States thereunder, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support 
all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, " ^ ior»g 
and so far as not repealed, raodified, or held void by Congress or by decision of the Supreme 
Court, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all proclatiaatione 
of the* President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long 
Kud so far as not modified or declared void hj decision of the Supreme Court. So help 
me God. " 

The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are all who are or 
^hall have been civil or dioloraatic officers or agonts of the so-called Confederate Govern- 
ment; all who have left judical stations under r,he United States to aid the rebellion; all 
who are or shall have been military or naval officer of said so-called Conftderatre Govern- 
ment above the rank of Colonel in the army, or of Lieutenant in the navy; all who left 
8€ats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion ; all who resigned commissione 
iu the array or navy of the United States and afterward aided the rebellion, and all who 
bave' en<raged in any way in treating color-^d ptrsons or white persons in eliarge of such, 
otherwise Uian lawfully as prisoner.^ o5'"'^ " and x^hioh persons may have been found in 
the United States service as soldiers, sea^*^'--*^^''" • ''^ -■•-- other capacity. 

And I do further proclaim declare, and n'nim known that wheneVer, in any of the 
States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, 
South Carolina, and North Caiolina a num^ber of persons, not less than one tenth in num- 
ber of the votes cast in such State at the Presidential election of the year of our Lord 
1860, eaeh halving taken tlie oath aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and being 
a qualified voter by the election law of the State, existing immediately before the so- 
called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall recstab'.ieh a State Government, 
which shall be republican, and in nd'wise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized 
as the true Government of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of 
the constitutional provision which declares that — 

"The United States shall guarantee to ever}' State in this Union a republican form of 
government, snd shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of th<^ 
Legislature, or the Executive when ti)e Lsgislrtiure cannot be convened, against domestic 
violence.'' 

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any prcvvision which may be 
adopted by such State Government in relation to the freed people of such State v/hich 
&hall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their education, and 
which may yet be consistent, as a ternporary arrangement, with their present condition 
as a laboring, landless, and homeless class will not be objected t» by the Is^ational Lxecu- 
tive. 

And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing^a loyal State Government in any 
State, the name of the State, the boundary the subdivisions, the constitution and the 
general code of laws as before the rebellion, be m.aintained, subject only to the modifica- 
tions made necessary by the conditions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not 
contravening said conditions, aad which may be deemed expedient by those framing the 
new State Government. 

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this Proclamation, so far as it 
relates to State Govt^rnraents, has no reference to States wherein loyal State Governments 
have all the while been maintained. And for the same reason it may be proper to further 
say, that whether members sent to Congress from any State shall be' admitted to seats 
constitutionally, rests exclusively with the respective Plouses, and not to any extent with 
the Executive. 

And still fuither, that this Proclamation is intended to present the people of the States 
wherein the luitional authority has been suspended, and loyal State Governments have 
been subverted, a modeinand by which the national authority and loyal State Govern- 
ments may be reestablished within the said States, or in any of them. 

And, while the mode prcs'^nted is the best the Executive can suggest with his pres- 
" ent impressions, it must not be understood that no other possible mode would be accept- 
able. 

Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the eighth day of December, A. D. 
one thousand eight hunered and sixty-thre^j aad of the independence of the United 
States of America the eighty-eighth. 

ABRAHAM LINCON. 
By the President : ^ 

[l. St.-] William H, Skwaeb, Secretanj of hiate. 

Printed by I* Towers for the Union Congressional Committee, 



